Opinion

For those interested in history and genealogy, Missouri Digital Heritage is a great resource. Located on the Missouri Secretary of State’s website, Missouri Digital Heritage contains access to collections from institutions across the state.

Ready or not, in just a few more days we’ll drop into 2023 and begin another year, come what may! There are many unknowns that will fall before us during the next 12 months. Hopefully there are some that occurred during the previous year that won’t be happening again.

Over the past month, I have watched game after game of men my age or (mostly) younger playing their hearts out in pursuit of the planet’s most coveted sports trophy, the World Cup. On Sunday, 35-yearold Lionel Messi cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time by leading his mixedage Argentina squad to a 4-3 victory in a shootout against France, led by its 24-year-old phenom Kylian Mbappe, who won his first World Cup in 2018.

There are many ways to express one’s feelings and tie into the meaning of Christmas, but none better than a column that appeared in a Chicago newspaper many years ago. The simple words, if taken seriously today, could go a long way toward solving problems both domestic and abroad.

As I approach my 60th birthday, I get that question off and on. My answer is: “I’m not.” I have no plans to retire.

It was about this time nine years ago I first drove through the city of Cassville. On my way to Monett to meet my old boss, who was trying to sweet talk me up here from Searcy, Ark., I came up 86 through some of the windiest roads I had ever driven, then took 76 over to hilltop.

It is a wonderful time to talk about some of the moments that brought me and my family where they are today. To tell this story, I need to start in the summer of 2018.

This is a repeat of a column published in 2013 that depicts a special time in our lives. Reading it this time of the year has become a habit for me and I think if she could see, Anita Sue would also like the memory.

It’s that time of year. It’s getting colder, the sales have started and there’s a sea of red and green in store windows, cloying at passersby to purchase the latest fashion trend or electronic.

Tuesday, Dec. 7, will long live in memory, especially for those who were around that Sunday 71 years ago when news reached the mainland that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor and virtually destroyed this country’s Pacific Fleet.